Libation ritual and the performance of kingship in early China

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 65 (2022) 101370 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Anthropological Archaeology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jaa Libation ritual and the performance of kingship in early China LI Min UCLA, United States A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T Keywords: Religious communication Libation ritual Axis mundi Kingship Building on a diverse array of previous discoveries, this paper investigates the intersection of alcohol consumption, ritual performance, and political representations in early China. It traces the emergence and elaboration of a libation assemblage in coastal Neolithic mound centers to its incorporation into Bronze Age high culture, whereas it became an important medium for religious communication in Zhou bronze inscriptions and ritual texts. As the ritual process bound the living with the ancestral and supernatural realms, the deep continuities in these ritual practices and associated assemblage reveal an emerging notion of kingship in the political evolution of early China that took alcohol and alcohol-related rituals as its primary representation of political and ritual authority. This close connection between libation and power becomes the defining attribute of Bronze Age material culture in early China. 1. Introduction As highly condensed social facts, food and drinks do not just represent a static expression of social relationships, they were also instrumental for an on-going process of social action (Appadurai, 1981, 1986; Feeley-Harnik, 1994, 1995; Goody, 1982; Mauss, 2006; Hastorf, 2017). In establishing precisely who eats what with whom, commensality is one of the most powerful ways of defining and differentiating social groups: The very act of eating and drinking with a man was a symbol and a confirmation of fellowship and mutual social obligations. The one thing directly expressed in the sacrificial meal is that the god and his worshippers are commensals, but every other point in their mutual relations is included in what this involves. Those who sit at the meat together are united for all social effects, those who do not eat together are aliens to one another, without fellowship in religion and without reciprocal social duties (Smith, 1889: 251 in Feeley-Harnik, 1994:11). The interrelated realms of food, drinks, ritual, commensality, therefore, are critical for revealing cultural distinction and social change (Sherratt, 1987; Chang, 1977; Douglas, 1971; Douglas and Isherwood, 1996; Dietler and Hayden, 2001; Hamilakis, 2014; Sterckx, 2006; Pauketat et al., 2002; Van der Veen, 2003). While “food was, and continues to be, power in a most basic, tangible and inescapable form,” set configuration of food assemblages, performative techniques, and symbolic meaning varied widely in different cultures (Arnold, 1988:3). This is also the case for diverse cultural responses to the intoxicating property of alcohol consumption in different societies, especially in the realms of ritual performance and religious communication (Arnold, 1999; Dietler, 1990, 1996, 2001, 2006; Joffe, 1998; Sherratt, 1987, 1991; McGovern, 2009; Wang et al., 2016; Liu Li et al., 2019a, 2020a). While the concept of the eucharistic cup immediately evokes the connection between Christianity and libation, the entanglement of religion, political authority, and drinking apparatus was complex in early China and even their archaeological classification as drinking vessels is problematic. By focusing on the development of a distinctive ritual assemblage for libation, this paper investigates the social, political, and ritual roles of alcohol in the representation of kingship in Bronze Age China. My focus on the symbolic aspect of alcohol consumption is based on K.C. Chang’s (1983) arguments on the relationship between the ritual and the political. First, altered states of consciousness from ritual consumption of alcohol and other psychoactive substances were integral to religious communication. Second, prestige objects made of precious materials, such as jade and bronze, were symbols of the all-important rituals that gave their owners access to the ancestors. Third, the exclusive control over these mediums of religious communication represents the path to political authority in early China, which served to legitimize the king’s rule. These considerations place alcoholic beverages as part of high culture, which revolved around “the production and consumption of aesthetic items under the control, and for the benefit, of the inner elite of a civilization, including the ruler and the gods” (Baines and Yoffee, Abbreviations: Heji, Jiaguwen heji (the complete collection of the oracle bone inscriptions); Huadong, Huayuanzhuang dongdi jiagu (the oracle bone inscriptions from the Huayuanzhuang East locus); Jicheng, Yin Zhou jinwen jicheng (the comprehensive collection of Shang and Zhou bronze inscriptions). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2021.101370 Received 27 April 2021; Received in revised form 2 October 2021; 0278-4165/© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license M. LI Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 65 (2022) 101370 Fig. 1. Map of major sites covered in this paper. 1998: 235). Along with knowledge of the elaborate decorum, body techniques, and ritual protocols, highly prized food and drink are important means of the self-legitimation for the inner elite. For those outside, the elaboration of food codes like the libation ritual discussed in this paper was one of many of mechanisms of exclusion. As the result of a ritualization process, one’s relationships to food, drink, and commensality “constitute a central fiber in the social, religious, economic and political fabric of any community” (Sterckx, 2006:1). The study of alcohol consumption, therefore, can never be separated from other realms of social practice–it permeated every aspect of political and religious representation in early China. classical texts, however, details of this ritual performance and its associated object assemblage had been lost for millennia. At the same time, recent archaeological breakthroughs have offered new clues to the lost ritual tradition from the perspectives of epigraphic evidence and recurrent patterns in the configuration of excavated assemblages. The archaeological data for this study consists of jade tablets and bronze or lacquer goblets from elite mortuary contexts. In the past, poor preservation of organic components in this ritual assemblage resulted in their decontextualization and misclassification. Only within the last decade, their association with the guan ceremony became better known with the discovery of in situ assemblages (Cao, 2008; Li and Jing, 2012; Wei, 2013). It becomes possible, therefore, to make archaeological observations on the evolution of this ritual assemblage from Neolithic and Early Bronze Age contexts and to make comparisons with epigraphic and textual representations of libation rituals in historical traditions of Late Bronze Age. Without assuming a cultural continuation of the prehistoric ritual traditions and later textual narratives, this paper tries to tease out the resilience of a ritual assemblage against the backdrop of extraordinary sociopolitical changes spanning from the third through first millennium BC. It provided a realm of political representation through which ideas of kingship and ritual authority were expressed and elaborated. My analysis of the archaeological assemblage addresses these questions : How did the techniques and apparatuses of alcohol consumption and religious communication connect to political representation? How did the changing configuration of ritual assemblages connect to broad changes in technology, interregional interaction, and rise of political authority? How was alcohol used in association with other ritually charged substances, such as jade, bronze, and lacquer, for engaging with the ancestral and the supernatural? Contextual analysis of archaeological remains is critical for 2. Research Questions, Methods, and Analyses In this paper, early China refers to the geographic regions within the “Prehistoric Chinese Interaction Sphere” as defined by K.C. Chang (1986). In classical texts from early China, the ritual practice described as guan refers to the ceremony where alcohol was poured as an offering to deity or ancestors by kings and high elites of Bronze Age society. Cross-culturally, the concept of libation involves the pouring out of liquid as a sacrifice to a deity, whereas the liquid goes to waste—it is not collected or consumed. The alcoholic beverages used in the guan ritual, however, were processed, offered, and then drunk by participants in the ritual. Because the guan ceremony served a similar cultural purpose, this paper considers it as part of a broadly defined tradition of libation ritual and focuses on investigating its distinctive role in the evolution of political and ritual authority in early China. As part of high culture, libation rituals like the guan ceremony were transmitted by inner elites and integrated into the civilizational, cultural, and stylistic context of early China. In spite of its significance in 2 M. LI Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 65 (2022) 101370 Fig. 2. Libation set of the Liangzhu tradition of the late third millennium BC. (1 & 2: Red lacquer goblets from the Bianjiashan site in the Liangzhu mound center, after Fang 2019, Fig. 12; 3: Miniature Liangzhu cong cylinder with stacked masks excavated from tomb M2 of the Yaojiashan cemetery in Tongxiang, Zhejiang, after Liu and Du., 2005, 57; 4: Jade tiles from jade inlaid lacquer goblet and jade obelisk-shaped finials excavated from the Lingyanghe cemetery in southern Shandong, Late Dawenkou material culture tradition, after Liang et al., 2005, 6, 7, 12, 13; 5: jade finial with Liangzhu mask iconography excavated from tomb M20 of the Fanshan cemetery in Liangzhu, after Liu and Du, 2005, 92). (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.) religious communication; thus, it has deep roots in the shift to sedentary life in early Neolithic if not earlier (Bao, 2005a, 2005b, 2005c, 2007a; Liu, 2017, Liu et al., 2020b). Residue analysis has revealed that millet cultivation in the north and rice farming in the south contributed to early brewing practices, which, in turn, co-evolved with pottery production technology in Neolithic China (Liu et al., 2020c). Fermentation and communal consumption of millet ale with large amphorae had become a hallmark of the Yangshao cultural tradition during the sixth and fifth millennium BC (Liu et al., 2018a, 2018b, 2020d). 1In the coastal lowlands, however, alcohol fermented in deep vats co-evolved with feasting traditions among elite individuals, whereas drinking vessels for individual consumption of the warrior elite became the foci of technological and aesthetic elaboration (Bao, 2008; Keightley, 1987; Liu et al., 2021; McGovern et al., 2005). Alcoholic beverage brewed with a starter compound in deep vats produced a higher alcohol content than millet ale fermented in large amphorae and was more difficult to make, and thus greatly favored by elite (Bao, 2007b; Liu et al., 2019b; McGovern et al., 2004). By the end of understanding how alcohol consumption and libation rituals were used for religious communication and to reenact venerated ancestral stories. Over time, the libation set evolved to include components made of jade, turquoise, lacquered wood, bronze, and sometimes gold. As these materials and technologies reference different cultural traditions that contributed to the rise of political authority, the emergence and evolution of this ritual set become a key indicator for state formation in early China. I will first investigate the emergence of the libation assemblage in Late Neolithic society, which is followed by its incorporation into Bronze Age elite ritual traditions. I will then explore textual references to alcohol consumption and political negotiation from the Late Bronze Age, where the libation ritual became an integral part of the ideology and discourse of kingship. Spanning three millennia, consistency in the configuration of this libation set from Late Neolithic to historical society justifies the adoption of a direct historical method, whereas archaeological inference, epigraphic representation, and textual narratives serve as three complementary lines of inquiry. 2.1. Emergence of the ritual assemblage in coastal Neolithic society (Early to middle third millennium BC) 1 I use the Taihang mountain range as the boundary between highlands and lowland society (Li 2018). Alcohol consumption enhances social cohesion and facilitates 3 M. LI Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 65 (2022) 101370 Fig. 3. Jade tiles from jade inlaid lacquer goblet and jade obelisk-shaped finials from the Haochuan cemetery of the Late Liangzhu material culture tradition (1 & 2: after Zhejiangsheng and Suichangxian, 2001 Color Plates 30 & 31; 3: Reconstruction of a jade inlaid lacquer goblet and a jade obelisk-shaped finial from tomb M60 at the Haochuan cemetery, after Fang, 2018, Fig. 19; 4 & 5: remains of a jade inlaid lacquer goblet with a jade inlaid rod from tomb M8 at the Haochuan cemetery with a reconstruction, after Fang, 2018, Fig. 2 and Fig. 6; 6: jade tiles from a jade inlaid rod from the Caowanshan site, after Fang, 2018, Fig. 14; 7: reconstructions of two jade inlaid rods from Caowanshan and Haochuan M62, after Fang, 2018, Fig. 15; 8: A jade obelisk-shaped finial from tomb M53 of the Haochuan cemetery, after Zhejiangsheng and Suichangxian, 2001 Color Plate 24–3). the fourth millennium BC, the lowland society had perfected the amylolysis fermentation technique, which exploits a mixture of specialized fungi in a starter compound to break down the carbohydrates of steamed rice into fermentable sugar (McGovern et al., 2005:264). It was this coastal technique, instead of the fermentation of millet ale in Yangshao amphorae, that defined the Bronze Age elite drinking tradition in the Central Plains (Li, 2018). In contrast, the Yangshao amphorae-based drinking tradition disappeared in the heartland regions of early China during the early third millennium BC, whereas it enjoyed enduring popularity in the western highlands through millennia (Liu et al., 2017). The ritual technique and apparatus investigated in this paper traces its origin to the Liangzhu society, a coastal paramountcy developed on intensive rice farming in the lower Yangzi region at the end of the fourth millennium BC (Renfrew and Liu, 2018) [Fig. 1]. Here, the Liangzhu elite amassed an extraordinary concentration of wealth in the form of jade objects and constructed a prehistoric urban center that connected its monumental central mound (30 ha) with workshops, mound clusters, canals, causeways, dams, and reservoirs across its urban landscape spanning over 70 square kilometers. Their emphasis on drinking vessels and jade battle axes in their mortuary assemblages suggests that the Liangzhu society was probably ruled by paramount chiefs or kings actively engaged in feasting and warfare (Li, 2018). The focus of Liangzhu religious life was a supernatural deity engraved on nearly all major categories of jade objects, which could be tied to the Liangzhu cosmogony. Chang (1983) describes the iconography as an image of domination: a human being riding atop an animal as a shamanistic vehicle. Its emergence represents either a newly invented religious tradition or a significant elaboration of existing ones, lending a religious veneer to the warrior leaders of Liangzhu society (Li, 2018). The spread of the ritual network associated with these jades probably allowed the Liangzhu elite to declare that their authority was endorsed by and catered to the interest of the supernatural deity or mythical ancestor. The long-term entanglement of alcohol consumption, political authority, and religious communication evolved from this cultural context in early China. The central component of Liangzhu libation ritual consists of an obelisk-shaped jade finial and a lacquered wood goblet, which frequently appeared together in Liangzhu elite tombs along with pottery drinking vessels, such as hu bottles with the double loop handles and gui tripod pitchers, forming a drinking set for the consumption of alcoholic beverages. This set configuration bears close resemblance to the libation assemblage used for a guan ceremony in Late Bronze Age China, where the elite patron pore alcohol down a jade tablet installed inside a bronze goblet for ancestral offerings. The jade obelisk-shaped finials are often engraved with iconography identical to ones on other Liangzhu jades, suggesting that these objects also embodied Liangzhu ritual power (Deng, 2018)[Fig. 2-3 & 5]. The context suggests that the jade finial was hafted onto a wooden rod placed inside the goblet with the tip of the finial pointing upward (Yan, 2020). Once assembled, the jade finial stood approximately 10 cm above the flared rim of the goblet like a miniature obelisk. Liangzhu lacquered wood goblet was crafted by first hollowing out a single log, closing the 4 M. LI Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 65 (2022) 101370 cavity with a wood, pottery, or jade disk to the bottom, and finally coating lacquer over the surface of the wooden vessel, often decorated cloud designs in red and black lines (Fang, 2018; Yan, 2020) [Fig. 2-1 & 2]. Their thin-walled, burnished vermillion or black surface also led to their skeuomorphic production in pottery, as seen in the creation of extraordinarily thin burnished black-ware drinking cups and goblets. Once the organic materials from this assemblage deteriorated, the jade finial, the pottery disk, and traces of lacquer are the only remains preserve in mortuary contexts. For this reason, the libation assemblage was not recognized until recently. Recent excavation of the Zhongchuming jade workshop (100 ha) in Deqing, approximately 18 km southwest of the Liangzhu mound center reveals extensive production of the jade finials and tubes from serpentine during the Late Liangzhu Phase (ca. 2800–2500 BCE)(Zhejiangsheng and Deqingxian, 2021). The massive scale of production indicates that this ritual assemblage was used widely among elite members in the Liangzhu society. This is further attested by the discovery of these jade obelisk-shaped finials in major Dawenkou sites of the Huai River Basin in the northern hinterland of the Liangzhu society, e.g. Dawenkou, Huating, Lingyanghe, and Sanlihe, indicating the spread of the Liangzhu libation ritual among its allies and peer polities [Fig. 2-4]. The libation assemblage excavated at the Haochuan cemetery in the mountainous hinterland of Zhejiang offers evidence of ritual elaboration during the Late Liangzhu period. The lacquered wood goblets and rods were inlaid with jade tiles, highlighting their role as the focus of ritual libation [Fig. 3]. As seen in Fig. 2-4, nearly identical jade tiles depicting terraced mound and jade obelisk-shaped finials were also found in an elite tomb from the Late Dawenkou cemetery at Lingyanghe of the Huai River Basin, presumably imported from Liangzhu mound centers through elite exchange network. These elaborate surface décors highlight the ritual importance of these drinking vessels, possibly as mediums of religious communication. Like their Liangzhu counterparts, these Haochuan specimens are frequently found in association with a jade finial and a pottery tripod gui pitcher. This extensive use of jade inlay on libation vessels represents a fusion of two powerful ritual substances, alcohol and jade. Although they are completely unrelated in modern taxonomy, alcohol and jade were both attributed with great ritual power in early China, thus used as potent mediums for ritual engagement with the supernatural and ancestral. While the ritual significance of the Liangzhu-Dawenkou libation set remains unknown, their configuration displays distinctive resemblance to the ritual set used in the guan ceremony in Late Bronze Age elite provenance. Next, I will trace the extraordinary resilience of the elite ritual practice associated with this assemblage against the backdrop of drastic socio-political changes unfolding during the next two millennia. lacquered wood goblet for libation rituals as seen in the Liangzhu society (Deng, 2018)[Fig. 4-1, 2, 3]. The distribution of these jade ritual objects from the Middle Yangzi to Ordos indicating the enormous scope of the Longshan exchange network (Shao, 2021). As most of these regions did not have a well-developed jade industry before the Longshan period, this rapid change might have involved contributions from jade artisans from the coast, as both the iconographies and the forms from LiangzhuDawenkou jade-working tradition were adopted by Longshan communities. As Longshan jade mining activities spread westward towards the western highlands and the Hexi Corridor, Eurasian stockbreeding and metal prospecting activities expanded eastwards and southwards into the highland Longshan communities, setting in motion the technological and social transition to a Bronze Age society in early China (Liu and Chen, 2012; Li, 2018; Sherratt, 2006). In the middle of this convergence, the highland agropastoral communities flourished with an elaborate jade industry, incipient copper use, and an extensive exchange network with Longshan communities further to the east (Debaine-Francfort, 1995; Fitzgerald-Huber, 1995, 2003; Jaang, 2015; Mei, 2003; Wen, 2018). The convergence of Eurasian interaction networks brought potential changes to techniques and mediums of religious communication, through which bronze was incorporated into the libation assemblage previously consisted of lacquered wood and jade. After the collapse of the Longshan urban centers during the 19th century BCE, the emergence of Erlitou in the Luoyang Basin highlighted the critical importance of alcohol consumption and libation rituals in the high culture of early Bronze Age China. The standard mortuary assemblage from Erlitou elite tombs consists of pottery or lacquer gu goblet, jue tripod beaker in pottery or bronze, jia tripod pitcher in pottery or bronze, pottery pot, pottery dou stemmed dish, jade tablet, and pottery disk (Yan, 2020; Zhang, 2012).2 Together with turquoise mosaic plaques and copper bells, Erlitou mortuary assemblage placed great emphasis on alcohol consumption and ritual performance (Li, 2018). Instead of weapons and tools as seen in the contemporaneous Eurasian Bronze Age society, the design repertoire of the earliest bronze objects produced by Erlitou foundries focused on drinking vessels, including jue tripod beakers, jia tripod pitchers, and he tripod pitchers with an enclosed top. These vessel forms evolved from the Longshan pottery and lacquered wood assemblages for ritual and commensal consumption, which remained as the symbol of ritual and political authority through the second and first millennium BC. Their design highlights a concern for precise heating and mixing, presumably to enhance flavor and aroma for ritual libation and feasting occasions, which, in turn, could be imbued with symbolic meanings of purification and elaboration (Li, 2018). Contextual information reveals that these drinking vessels were frequently found alongside jade tablets/finials, which are most ubiquitous among jade objects from Erlitou elite burials (Li and Jing, 2012). Again, these jade tablets and finials appear to be mounted on a wooden rod with the mortise and tenon technique, which was placed inside the lacquered wood goblet in Erlitou elite tombs. Among sixteen tablets found at Erlitou, some appear to be Longshan heirlooms, e.g. the three eagle-shaped finials from the Erlitou palatial precinct (Deng, 2018; Zhongguo, 2014) [Fig. 4-4]. Some had engravings of masks that closely resembles the iconography on Liangzhu jade obelisk-shaped finials (Cao, 2008)[Fig. 4-5]. Hayashi Minao (1996) argues that the multi-tiered relief motif on the Longshan-Erlitou jade tablets represents stacked ancestral or deity masks like a miniature totem pole [Fig. 4-6]. As seen in the evolution of 2.2. Becoming early Bronze Age high culture (Late third to early second millennium BC) The prehistoric societies of the lower Yangzi, and the middle Yangzi suffered a deep collapse around 2300 BCE. Large prehistoric urban centers emerged in the Jinnan Basin, the loess highlands, the Huai River Basin, and the Shandong coast during the Longshan period (ca. 2300–1800 BCE). In the area later known as the Central Plains, Longshan communications in the Upper Huai River Basin and the Yi-Luo River Basin incorporated more coastal forms, as well as the fermentation and consumption techniques associated with them, into their drinking assemblage. Connected by superbly carved jade objects and exquisitely made drinking vessels, the prehistoric cities of Taosi (300 ha), Shimao (400 ha), Wadian (100 ha), Yaowangcheng (400 ha), and Liangchengzhen (100 ha) became major nodes of a close-knit Longshan elite exchange network (Li, 2018). Among a wide range of jade forms distributed along the network, their design attributes and archaeological contexts suggest that the jade tablets and the eagle shaped finials were used with a 2 These bronze vessel forms were classified and named by antiquarian scholars from the eleventh century based on their understanding of classical texts, which was later adopted by modern Chinese archaeology. As I will discuss in the case of the gu goblet form, new epigraphic evidence indicates that it was called tong in Bronze Age (Wu, 2010; Wang, 2010; Zhang and Ju, 2014). 5 M. LI Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 65 (2022) 101370 Fig. 4. Jade finials and tablets from Longshan and Erlitou sites (1: Eagle-shaped finial from Shimao, after Liu, 2005, 24; 2: Eagleshaped finial from Wadian, after Henansheng, 2004, 198, Color Plate 8–2; 3: Eagleshaped finial from Zaolingang, after Zhang et al., 2005, 36; 4: Eagle-shaped finial from Erlitou, after Zhongguo, 2014, Color Plate 289–2; 5. jade tablet with Liangzhu style mask motif from Erlitou, after Zhongguo, 2014, Color Plate 288–1; 6: jade tablet with stacked masks motif from Erlitou, after Tian et al., 2005, 9). iconography on Liangzhu cong cylinders, the masks went through a parallel process of simplification and multiplication, evolving from detailed depictions to highly abstract representations with many tiers [Fig. 2-3]. Pouring alcohol over the stack of masks, therefore, is reminiscent of nourishing a pantheon of gods or ancestors. The alcoholic beverage might have become sacred through its interaction with supernatural beings and ancestors during this ritual process. The flat top tablet design seen in Fig. 4-6 became the primary design through the Bronze Age. Due to preservation differences, lacquer goblets were significantly underrepresented in archaeological data in comparison to pottery ones. Chen Guoliang (2011) made a compelling argument that the finely polished thin pottery disk, often coated with red lacquer and associated with traces of lacquer goblets, was the bottom of a deteriorated lacquered wood goblet, used the same way as the jade disks or wooden plugs found in Liangzhu and Haochuan lacquer goblets. Furthermore, there exists a quantitative correlation between the number of these disks and the status/wealth of the burial. The presence of the whole assemblage can be inferred from the discovery of jade tablets and pottery disks in Erlitou elite burials, where wooden vessels were not preserved (Yan, 2020). The Erlitou libation ritual, therefore, manifests a convergence of technological traditions, jade, and lacquer from the east coast and bronze metallurgy from the western highlands and beyond. Such distinctive technological choices in the transition to Bronze Age society in early China draws our attention to K. C. Chang’s (1983) argument that bronze vessels were the mediums of religious communication. The distinctive attributes of the first bronze vessels gave them a magical quality, such as the shiny surface, the ringing sound, the heat and fracture resistance, and the ability to be melt down and recasted (Sherratt, 2006; Wu, 1995). For Neolithic communities familiar with jade, pottery, and lacquerware, the creation of first bronze vessels at Erlitou is nothing less than an urban spectacle (Li, 2018). This transformative experience helped to establish “a community of interests, marking close relationship, among those who are neither kin nor affine”(Feeley-Harnik, 1994:10). The intoxicating quality of alcohol and its connection with the libation ritual performed over jade and bronze became the catalyst in a syncretic process unfolding at Erlitou, forging new identities and solidarity among culturally heterogeneous groups and mobilizing them for expansionist activities. The symbolic and functional significance of the first bronze vessels from Erlitou encourages us to rethink the nature of Erlitou state and its expansion based on the distribution of Erlitou material culture. In light of the general absence of bronze weaponry in Erlitou sites, Erlitou state expansion may represent the emergence of a ritual network rather than military conquest, where a new ritual tradition bound people to their religion through powerful links between food and memory. 2.3. Contextual and epigraphic evidence in Shang (Middle to late second millennium BC) Rising after the decline of Erlitou in the Luoyang Basin, the spread of Erligang material culture of the middle second millennium BC centered in the great city of Zhengzhou (approximately 15 square kilometers) to the east of the basin. This shift of the political landscape coincided with the temporal and spatial frame for the rise of the Shang state in later historical sources (Liu and Chen, 2003, 2012; Li, 2018). In contrast to changes in ceramic traditions, the Erligang high culture displays remarkable continuity with and elaboration from the Erlitou tradition, where jade tablets and drinking vessels made from bronze, ceramic, or lacquered wood are frequently found together in Erligang elite burials. Through the latter half of the second millennium BC, jade tablets and jade dagger axes are the most ubiquitous ritual forms found in Shang elite burials, mostly from the two major political centers of Zhengzhou and Panlongcheng. Of the 115 jade tablets documented for this period, they are frequently found placed at the waist of the deceased, indicating that they were integral to the material representation of elite social persona (Li and Jing, 2012). Zhengzhou foundries produced bronze goblets based on the design of lacquer wood goblets (Zhu, 2009:243; Li and Jing, 2012:35). Their surface décor appears to incorporate iconography on jade objects and lacquer wares from the Longshan-Erlitou ritual tradition. The recurrent discovery of jade tablets, bronze, or lacquer goblets and bronze jue 6 M. LI Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 65 (2022) 101370 tripod beakers together in elite tombs both in Zhengzhou and its outposts indicates that they were used as libation set in the Early Shang state (Cao, 2008; Deng, 2018; Yan, 2020). At the southern outpost of Panlongcheng in the middle Yangzi, a group of bronze vessels consisting a jue tripod beaker, a jia tripod pitcher, and a gu goblet were arranged in a circle inside a ritual dedication pit (PWZH7), along with jade tablets and other jade objects, probably as a set for a ritual offering (Li and Jing, 2012:35). The libation set, therefore, has become the hallmark of the early Bronze Age high culture of the Erlitou-Erligang states, which connected alcohol consumption with political and ritual authority. Approximately 223 jade tablets have been excavated from Late Shang (ca. 1250–1046 BCE) context and the majority came from the royal capital Yinxu in the modern city of Anyang. Spanning an area over 36 sq. kilometers, Yinxu was a giant conglomerate of residential communities, craft workshops for bone, jade, bronze, and ceramic production, and cemeteries, which developed organically around the royal palace compound at Xiaotun (Campbell, 2018). Among diverse jade forms, the jade tablet was most abundant–even the human retainers and sacrificial victims had jade tablets buried with them, either as their own possession or as a ritual dedication with the sacrificial offering (Li and Jing, 2012:36). Frequently used as body ornaments or in association with bronze jue tripod beakers and gu bronze goblets, these jade tablets usually appeared in pairs or increments of five, sometimes with strung cowrie shells attached to them (Du, 2021). Hwang Ming-chorng (2016a: 267-86) argues that the graded sets of jue tripod beaker and gu bronze goblet in Late Shang burials was a key indicator of social hierarchy, which ranged from one to ten sets. As the only intact royal tomb in Anyang, royal consort Fu Hao’s tomb yielded a total of 33 jade tablets, 53 gu goblets, and 40 jue tripod beakers (Zhongguo, 1980: 115, 178–81)[Fig. 5-1]. Hwang (2016a) argues that the goblet-and-tripod beaker sets can be divided into subsets. Ten sets belonged to herself and marked her royal status. The rest were funerary gifts from elite mourners, whereas the numbers reflected their own status in the Late Shang social hierarchy. Since the grave goods was excavated below groundwater, the original context of the jade tablets and the drinking vessels was lost. Individuals buried in sacrificial pits around Fu Hao’s tomb were frequently interred with a jade tablet set in a turquoise and shell mosaic inlaid base with a perforated rectangular tile (Li and Jing, 2012:37). At least some of the jade tablets from Fu Hao’s tomb likely feature a similar configuration, which would also explain the presence of small jade tubes in the mortuary assemblage. The configuration of these components in a libation set would become apparent in Zhou elite tombs from the turn of the first millennium BC, which I will further elaborate. Besides the Shang tablets of standard design, some archaic jade tablets from Fu Hao’s tomb were heirlooms of the Longshan-Erlitou tradition. The potential connection between these archaic jade forms and the Late Shang ritual tradition could be observed from the unique Fig. 5. Jade tablets, their inscriptions, and pictographic representation of their ritual usage in bronze emblem. 1: A jade tablet with simplified stacked masks design from Fu Hao’s tomb at Yinxu, after Tian et al., 2005, 50; 2 & 3: The bronze goblet from tomb M89 at the Tiesanlu site in Anyang with a rubbing of its jade sceptershaped emblem, after Zhongguo, 2017, Fig. 39 and Fig. 38; 4: Two of fifteen jade tablets from tomb M89 at the Tiesanlu site in Anyang, after Zhongguo, 2017, Fig. 13; 5. Two of six jade tablets inscribed with ancestors’ day-names in vermilion from Hougang, Anyang, after Tian et al., 2005: 81, 82; 6: A pictographic representation of the libation set in its performative context as an emblem on a zun vessel from Yinxu, after Jicheng 05444; 7: An inscribed Late Shang jade tablet in the Tianjin Museum collection, after Tianjin 2012, 64, Fig. 47; 8: Pictographic representation of the libation set with a mounted jade tablet inserted inside a lacquered wood or bronze goblet in Yinxu oracle bone script, after Fang, 2007 and Ju, 2014, top roll: a. Heji 18522; b. Heji 17534; c. Huadong 403; middle roll, d. Huadong 493; e. Heji 3799; f. Huadong 475; bottom roll g. Huadong 290; h. Heji 4849; i. Heji 10199). 7 M. LI Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 65 (2022) 101370 perspective of a senior jade artisan’s tomb (M89) excavated at the Tiesanlu North Section, a massive Late Shang industrial district in Anyang (Zhongguo, 2017). While the modest tomb only yielded one libation set consisting a jue tripod beaker and a gu goblet, the artisan was furnished with 36 jade objects at various stages of production, including fifteen jade tablets, as well as his lapidary toolkit and damaged objects waiting to be re-carved. The jade spears with bronze handles are nearly identical with those excavated from Fu Hao’s tomb, indicating that the artisan probably served as a supervisor of jade workshops for royal patrons. An emblem depicting a Longshan-Erlitou style zhang jade scepter cast on the bronze goblet indicates that the artisan was likely an heir of an Erlitou artisan lineage incorporated into the Shang royal service after the fall of Erlitou, as the Shang ritual tradition did not embrace this ritual form (Li, 2018)[Fig. 5-2, 3, 4]. The artisan not only produced these jade tablets for his Shang lords, but also likely knew their symbolic significance from the pre-Shang ritual tradition. Epigraphic evidence from Yinxu provides an additional line of inquiry to our archaeological inference based on in situ configuration of various components from mortuary context. The earliest Chinese script was found on oracle bones, on bronze ritual vessels commissioned by the Shang elite, and, occasionally, on these jade tablets themselves. The emblem on a Yinxu period zun vessel (Jicheng 05444) reveals the performative context of the ritual libation in Late Shang society. It depicts a kneeling figure holding the mid-section of a goblet with a rod standing at the center of its flared mouth (Yan, 2015:98, 2020:21) [Fig. 5-6]. The finial on top of the rod probably represents the jade tablet. Next to the kneeling figure is a rectangular board with four handles, possibly a culinary stand with food offerings presented on its top. Based on his epigraphic and contextual analysis, Du (2021) argues that the pictograph for jade in Late Shang oracle inscriptions refers to bundles of jade tablets in pairs or sets of five, which became a major symbol for value in Late Shang society, similar to strung cowrie shells. The inscriptions on these jade tablets themselves inform on their role as mediums for ritual engagement with the ancestral and/or supernatural world. The vermillion inscriptions on six jade tablets excavated from Late Shang tombs at the Hougang cemetery in Yinxu all represent day names of male ancestors, indicating the calendrical order they were commemorated [Fig. 5-5]. Liu Zhao (1995) argues that these inscribed jades were used as ancestral tablets for religious dedications, which would be used both in ancestral temples and in journeys. The inscriptions were probably added on with ink and brush at the occasion of ancestral rituals. Li Xueqin (1998, 2004) argues that the ink inscribed jade tablets excavated from tomb M1046 at the Liujiazhuang cemetery in Yinxu were used for the same purpose, whereas the first character on the tablet is deciphered as guan, offering libation to, followed by the daynames of the ancestors. Late Shang inscriptions also reference the transaction of these jade objects as royal gifts. The inscription on a Late Shang jade tablet in the Tianjin Museum collection reads: “On the day of Yi-Hai, the king bestows a zan tablet upon the courtier at the grand palace” [Fig. 5-7]. The transaction probably took place after a libation ceremony at the court (Li and Jing, 2012; Yan, 2015; Deng, 2018). The ideograph zan inscribed on this inscribed tablet depicts a jade tablet connected to a rod and a cone shaped plug inserted inside a goblet (Zang, 2005). Similarly, the script guan for ritual libation in Yinxu oracle bone inscriptions depicts either a kneeing woman using a ladle to pour alcohol over the libation assemblage (Heji 18,059 reverse side) or simply a profile image of a cone shaped plug with a jade tablet and a lid on top inserted into the cavity of a goblet (Fang, 2007; Jia 2013; Ju, 2014)[Fig. 5-8]. The inscriptions on the Zi Huang zun vessel (Jicheng 06000) discovered at the Dayuancun site in the Western Zhou royal capital Feng-Hao describes a royal audience where the jade zan tablet was bestowed upon the subject as a royal gift: animal offerings. On this occasion, the King awarded Zi one yellow jade zan tablet and a hundred strings of cowries. Zi awarded them to the Lady Ding of the Si-lineage, who took this opportunity to make a precious vessel for the Ji-day ancestor (Cook, 2016:6) Zi was rewarded with a jade zan “for pouring fine sacrificial ales, the kind that would be stored in this vessel” (Cook, 2016:5). The Late Shang vessel was either a war treasure seized by the Zhou army or brought in by Late Shang elites incorporated into the Zhou service after the fall of Anyang around 1046 BCE. 2.4. Libation ritual in the Zhou society (Early to middle first millennium BC) After the Zhou conquest of the Shang state, bronze inscriptions reveal how alcohol consumption and the libation ritual played a significant role in the creation, maintenance and manipulation of social relationships in Zhou society. Western Zhou (ca. 1046–771 BCE) bronze inscriptions and transmitted texts indicates that Zhou rulers continued with the practice of the libation ritual in royal ceremonies, which help them navigate liminality in rites of passage and the reproduction of social order. The inscription on the Middle Western Zhou zun vessel sponsored by Zhao outlines a performative context similar to that of the Late Shang (Cao, 2017): On the date of Ding-Hai in June, the lord arrived at the ancestral temple to perform sacrificial rituals. Zhao was responsible for accompanying the lord and assisted the lord to complete the ceremony. The lord bestowed upon Zhao a zan jade tablet for ritual sacrifice, five strings of cowrie shells. The lord said: ‘Zhao, you must assist me with complete dedication.’ Zhao extols the lord’s patronage and had this sacrificial vessel made in honor of my deceased father. May he forever enjoy the ritual sacrifice. References to the use of jade zan tablets in odes and ritual texts from the Late Bronze Age suggest that spirit tablets were incorporated in libation rituals to infuse the aura of jade into alcohol (Deng, 2018). This emic classification attributes jade, a semiprecious stone, with the aura, liquidity, and efficacy of a living being in the similar way that alcohol represents the liquid essence of grain and spices. It is within this cultural perception of inter-materiality that jade, turquoise, bronze, lacquer, wood, and alcohol worked together with significant ritual potency, thus becoming integral to religious communication involving the offerings of food and alcohol to secure ancestral endorsement. Inscribed bronzes and the actual libation sets have been excavated from elite tombs of the three Zhou capitals of Zhouyuan, Feng-Hao, and Luoyi as well as elite tombs in Zhou military colonies and their colonial subjects. Remarkable similarity in their design and set configuration across the Western Zhou political landscape highlights the presence of an elite exchange network linking the inner elite of the Zhou royal court with the lords of its military colonies and its allies. The inscriptions on the bronze tripod vessel (Jicheng 2837) sponsored by Lord Nangong Yu summarize King Kang’s speech on the intoxicating property of alcohol and its potential to undermine state power: Yu, the Greatly Manifest King Wen received Heaven’s Aid and the Great Mandate. When King Wu succeeded King Wen and created the state, he cleared the land of those noxious presences and spread [the mandate] throughout the Four Regions, correcting their peoples. Among those in his militia vanguard, when presenting the alcoholic brews [to the spirits], no one dared get drunk; and, when presenting the burnt and grain offerings in sacrifice [to Kings Wen and Wu], no one dared to offer toasts. For this reason, Heaven sheltered and watched over the boy (King Wu) and provided a model of behavior and protection for the Former King so that he could spread the mandate throughout the Four Regions. I have heard that when the Yin let the Mandate fall, it was a case of losing the army because Yin’s On the day of Yi-Mao, Zi had an audience in the Great Hall, where he presented one white (jade?), nine ear jades and a hundred sacrificial 8 M. LI Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 65 (2022) 101370 border lords and Yin’s correctors, amounting to one hundred leaders, followed each other in line up to the alcohol! (Cook, 2016: 30–35). ancestral spirits, followed by symposia with the royal entourage. Based on the information gleaned from other Western Zhou bronze inscriptions, the royal gifts of lamb and pork boards for ritual offering represented very high privilege in Zhou ritual tradition (Baojishi, 2016). By this time, Xing’s forefathers had served as Zhou royal scribes for five generations. For these royal descendants of the fallen regime, the invitation to these important royal ceremonies and the presentation of highstatus royal gifts like the chang infused ale symbolized their full assimilation into the Zhou inner elite circle. The Zhuangbai hoard produced four Early Western Zhou bronze goblets, which would have been curated by the Wei lineage for over two centuries. Dozens of these Late Western Zhou bronze hoards from prominent elite lineages have been discovered in Zhouyuan, which were left behind by Zhou elite fleeing from the highland invasion of 771 BCE. Besides their historical significance, the distribution of these bronze hoards outlines a close-knit elite network linked by their shared ritual protocols and commensality developed over two centuries of residence at Zhouyuan, which can be characterized as an ‘agglomeration of major religious-cum-residential compounds scattered over an area of perhaps 200 sq. km, with spacious tracts of agricultural land in between’ (Falkenhausen, 2006: 34). As members of the inner elite, they provided “order to the civilizations, exploiting wealth and aspiring to be selflegitimizing through its role as the carrier of the civilization” (Baines and Yoffee, 1998: 258). This is the stream of tradition transmitted by the hereditary scribes of the Wei lineage and their elite neighbors. In the western hinterland of Zhouyuan, excavation at multiple cemeteries for the lineage of the Lord of Yu in Baoji has yielded complete assemblages used for libation ritual, including an elaborate libation set from tomb M13 at the Zhuyuangou cemetery that includes a lacquer jin stand with a zun container, a you container, a gu goblet, a zhi lidded cup, a dou ladle, a jade tablet, a bronze rod, a he tripod pitcher, and a bronze handle for the mao oxtail banner (Lu and Hu, 1988). The libation set from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, plundered from this area at the turn of the 20th century, represents a similar set without its lacquerwares [Fig. 6]. With a significant presence of victory vessels cast by post-conquest Anyang foundries as well as material culture from the western highlands and the Hanzhong and Sichuan basins, the distinctive mortuary assemblage of these elite tombs in Baoji indicates that the deceased were Zhou’s highland allies who had participated in the Zhou campaign against the Shang and settled in the hinterland of Zhouyuan (Li, 2018). Well preserved libation sets excavated from Western Zhou elite cemeteries at Zhangjiapo and Beiyao represents elite patrons residing in the royal capitals of Feng-Hao and Luoyi. They offer critical insight on The king went on to express his deep appreciation of the lord’s service as a mentor during the king’s youthhood and encouraged the lord to follow the lead of his late grandfather Patriarch Nangong as the top general of the Zhou military in leading the royal campaigns. The inscription went on to list royal gifts bestowed upon the lord, starting with chang, a highly prized fragrant ale infused with the spice yujin, presented in a bronze you container. In medieval China, yujin as an exotic spice refers to saffron imported from Iran and as a common yellow dye refers to turmeric (Yu and Cui, 2014). Its Bronze Age identification is not clear. The Zhou elite might have obtained saffron through the same Bronze Age exchange network that brought in cowrie shells and carnelian beads from Central Asia (Peng and Zhu, 1994; Rawson, 2010). Such bronze you containers were frequently seen in Zhou elite tombs, sometimes still has their liquid content preserved inside. Other royal gifts include ceremonial garments and shoes, chariot and horses, the flag used by Yu’s grandfather, and people in the categories of supervisors, commoners, and slaves. The content and grammatical pattern of the royal speech incorporated into the inscriptions on this commemorative vessel closely parallels with the “Jiu Gao” (Proclamation of Alcohol, attributed to the Duke of Zhou) and “Kang Gao” (Proclamations of Lord Kang, attributed to King Cheng) texts in Shangshu (Hwang, 2016b: 317, 360–62). These royal speeches from both epigraphic and transmitted sources blamed the Shang elite’s indulgence in alcohol as the cause for their dynastic downfall and issued stern warning to Zhou elite to reflect on the lessons of past regimes. Commissioned approximately five decades after the conquest of the Shang, this vessel would be curated in the ancestral temple of the Nangong lineage in the royal capital Zhouyuan until it fell to highland invasion in 771 BCE. Through the first quarter of the first millennium BC, it would have served as an anchor of noble pedigree for the prominent lineage. Ancestral veneration at these temples not only involved elite members of the Nangong lineage residing in Zhouyuan, but also included representatives from branch lineages dispatched to establish Zhou military colonies in frontier regions, such as the Nangong lords of the Zeng state in the middle Yangzi. While Lord Nangong Yu represents a member of the Zhou inner elite, his neighbor from the Wei lineage would have participated these occasions in a different capacity. Located approximately one kilometer southeast of Licun, where the Yu vessel was discovered, the Zhuangbai (No. 1) hoard of Zhouyuan consists of 103 bronze vessels and musical instruments commissioned by members of the Wei lineage spanning over two centuries (Baojishi, 2016). Their inscriptions indicate that their ancestors were members of the Shang royal lineage, who surrendered to King Wu, the founding king of the Zhou state. The Zhou state granted the Wei lineage an estate in Zhouyuan, where members of his lineage served as hereditary royal scribes through the Western Zhou period. They would have written down and archived the royal speech, including presenting a version to the recipient like Nangong Yu so that he could commission inscribed vessels to commemorate the royal patronage. The Wei lineage in Zhuangbei, therefore, was the major source of historical knowledge in the royal service and was generously rewarded as such. The hoard includes a bronze hu container commissioned by Xing to commemorate his participation of two libation ceremonies during a royal inspection tour (Baojishi, 2016: 67–68). The king first sent Lord Guoshu to invite Xing to a xiangli ceremony at the palace in Zheng and bestowed upon him a lamb board for making ancestral offerings. Thirtythree days later, the king sent Royal Scribe Shou to invite Xing to a nijiu ceremony at Gouling and bestowed him a pork board. The xiangli ceremony involves the consumption/offing of sweet ale, while nijiu ceremony involves the consumption/offing of alcoholic beverages filtered with mao grass (Imperata cylindrica var. major), a filtering process also known as suojiu. Both ceremonies would involve making ritual offering to the Fig. 6. The bronze libation set from Western Zhou elite burials in Baoji in the Metropolitan Museum collection (open access from Metropolitan Museum digital images collection). 9 M. LI Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 65 (2022) 101370 their set configuration and associated ritual performance. The deceased buried in the Beiyao cemetery were members of the Western Zhou inner elite residing in Luoyi, a new capital constructed by Shang lineages deported from Yinxu by Zhou forces (Luoyangshi, 1999). While the construction of the new capital between the Shang and Zhou heartlands represents a departure from the Anyang-centered configuration of political landscape, the high culture of Early Western Zhou state displays strong continuity from the Late Shang tradition. Twenty-seven jade tablets have been excavated from fifteen elite tombs at Beiyao, either suspended on the central chamber wall or placed on the nested coffin, some with its matching lacquer goblet intact. The jade tablet was mounted on a turquoise mosaic base featuring a ring of evenly spaced rectangular jade chips, with the space in between filled with turquoise mosaic tiles. It was in turn set on a lacquered lid inlaid with jade, turquoise, or freshwater shell chips with a jade tube inserted in the center (Luoyangshi, 1999:51-52, 152-53, 372)[Fig. 7-1, 2, 3]. These pieces were glued together and inserted into a turquoise inlaid lacquered wood goblet (Li and Jing, 2012). This extraordinary preservation at Beiyao helps us reconstruct the lost context associated with the jade tablets, jade tubes, and turquoise mosaic tiles from elite burials from Yinxu, including that of the royal consort Fu Hao. The mid-section of the script zan on oracle bones and inscribed jade tablet probably depicts a cluster of mosaic tiles (Ju, 2014; Deng, 2018; Yan, 2020). Some of these elaborate libation sets might have come from Shang elite, which would be consistent with the reference to conquered Shang subjects presenting the guan ritual to the Zhou founder King Wen in the ode “King Wen” in Shijing, the Book of Odes (Hwang, 2016b:362). In the Guanzhong Basin, elites in the royal capitals of Zhouyuan and Feng-Hao were frequently buried with jade tablets. Among fourteen jade tablets excavated from Tomb M1 at Rujiazhuang cemetery in Baoji, nine were placed around the torso of the tomb occupant, indicating that they were likely worn by these nobles like pendants [Fig. 7-4]. Similar design is also seen at elite tombs from the prominent Jing lineage at the Zhangjiapo cemetery in the Western Zhou royal capital of Feng-Hao (Zhongguo, 1999). The inner elites residing in the three Western Zhou royal capitals, therefore, shared highly specialized ritual knowledge associated with the libation ceremony [Fig. 7-5]. In contrast to relatively few bronze jue tripod beakers and gu goblets found in the tombs of Zhou and highland elites, Shang elite lineages maintained their ritual focus on drinking vessels after their subjugation into the Zhou political domain. The elite occupant buried in the great tomb at Taiqinggong, Luyi was probably Wei Zi Qi, a junior member of the Shang royal lineage defected to the Zhou state shortly before the fall of Anyang (Wang, 2002; Falkenhausen, 2006). According to textual narratives, the Zhou ruler granted Wei Zi Qi the state of Song at Shangqiu, the legendary ancestral place of the Shang, to maintain the ancestral cult of the Shang royal lineage. The Song state, therefore, served as a cultural reserve within the Zhou political system, where aspects of the Shang cultural tradition were preserved, including the practice of human sacrifice (Shiji, “Song Weizi shijia,” 38.1626). An Eastern Zhou (770–256 BCE) city (10 sq. kilometers) discovered under modern Shangqiu was likely remains of the Song capital (Zhongguo and Meiguo, 2017). The Taiqinggong tomb is located approximately 70 km south of Shangqiu. Its size, its four-ramp layout, and its extraordinary wealth highlight the presence of a Shang high elite in the Shangqiu region at the turn of the first millennium BC. Out of 79 bronze vessels buried with the lord, 48 were drinking vessels and many lidded containers still contained a quarter to half-full vessel of liquid content (Henansheng and Zhoukoushi, 2000; McGovern et al., 2004). Libation objects include ten bronze tripod beakers, eight bronze goblets, and 29 jade tablets. Although the tripod beakers and goblets were put together from different donors, they represent an effort to create a ten goblet-tripod Fig. 7. The libation assemblage and jade tablets from Early to Middle Western Zhou elite burials in Luoyi, Baoji, and Feng-Hao. (1: the jade tablet and lacquer goblet set from Beiyao tomb M155, after Luoyangshi, 1999, 56, Fig. 28; 2: a jade tablet from Beiyao, after Luoyangshi, 1999, 10-1; 3: a jade tablet from Beiyao, after Tian et al., 2005, 124; 4: Jade finial from Tomb M1 at Rujiazhuang, after Liu, 2005, 79); 5: Jade tablet set in turquoise mosaic mount from the elite burial M302 at the Zhangjiapo cemetery, after Zhongguo, 2007, Fig. 198). 10 M. LI Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 65 (2022) 101370 beaker set for members of the Shang royal lineage (Hwang, 2016a: 284–86). The presence of a large volume of alcoholic beverages and 14 retainers in the tomb is consistent with the emphasis on alcohol consumption and human sacrifice in Shang elite tradition. Beyond the three royal capitals, the discovery of libation sets in Zhou elite cemeteries from the military colonies as well as in elite cemeteries of their colonial subjects offers critical insights on the elite exchange network that was partially created through and maintained with the libation rituals. The gifting of alcoholic beverage and jade tablet at the royal ancestral temple were among the highest prestige that a king could bestow upon a subject, often presented to a Zhou lord dispatched to establish a new military colony on the frontier or returned from a victorious campaign (Shen and Li, 2014). The royal proclamation incorporated into the inscription of the Yihou Ze gui vessel (Jicheng 04320), an important Early Western Zhou vessel excavated from an elite tomb at Dantu in the lower Yangzi, lists a Shang jade tablet and a you container of chang infused ale, alongside ceremonial weapons, land, settlements, colonial subjects, lineages of administrators, and servants as gifts bestowed upon the Lord of Yi for his transfer to his new fief. King Kang made this announcement at the altar after visiting the map depicting the Zhou conquest of the Shang. The choice of the Shang jade tablet, presumably a war treasure, and the inventory of land and people were all part of the royal endorsement of the colonizing mission. In turn, the place-making ceremonies performed at the military colony with the libation assemblage marked a symbolic extension of royal power to far flung territories. The libation set has been excavated from the Qucun cemetery for the ruling elite of the Jin state in the Jinnan Basin, the Zhiyangling cemetery for the ruling elite of the Ying state in the Huai River Basin, and the Yejiashan cemetery for the ruling elite of the Zeng state in the middle Yangzi (Li and Jing, 2012; Ju, 2014). These were all military colonies established by the lineages of Zhou inner elite. Located in the Suizhou region in Hubei, the early Zeng lords buried in the Yejiashan cemetery were members of the Nangong lineage dispatched by the Zhou kings to secure the Sui-Zao Corridor, a strategic conduit connecting the Zhou royal capitals in the Central Plains with the copper producing regions of the middle Yangzi (Hubeisheng et al., 2013). The Nangong lords, therefore, were serving the Zhou state enterprise both in the royal capital and the southern frontier. Many of these bronzes commissioned by the lords of the Zeng state were produced by royal workshops operated by Shang artisan lineages incorporated into the Zhou service. Others were war treasures confiscated from the Shang royal palaces during the Zhou conquest. The Yejiashan bronze assemblage, therefore, displays striking continuity with the Late Shang ritual tradition. The ritual assemblage excavated from the Early Western Zhou tomb M28 at Yejiashan is similar to the Baoji finds, which included a lacquer jin stand, an elaborately painted lacquer gu goblet, a bronze gu goblet with a bronze rod placed above it, a pair of jue tripod beakers, a pair of zun containers, a pair of you containers, a zhi lidded cup, and a he tripod pitcher (Hubeisheng and Suizhoushi, 2013)[Fig. 8]. Excavation shows a bronze rod sticking out of the flared mouth of the bronze goblet [Fig. 8-1, 2, 3], similar to the libation assemblage represented by the emblem on the Late Shang zun vessel depicted in Fig. 5-6 as well as the shape of the jade rod from Tomb M1 at Rujiazhuang cemetery featured in Fig. 7-4. Bronze inscriptions from tomb M28 Fig. 8. Part of the libation assemblage excavated from the Early Western Zhou elite tomb M28 at the Yejiashan cemetery in Suizhou, Hubei (1: Bronze goblet after Hubeisheng and Suizhoushi, 2013, Color Plate 22; 2. Bronze rod associated with the globet, after Hubeisheng and Suizhoushi, 2013, Fig. 12-7; 3: The bronze libation set on the ledge of the tomb chamber, after Ju, 2020, Fig. 7; 4–7: a bronze zun container, two you lidded containers, and a he tripod pitcher from tomb M28, after Hubeisheng and Suizhoushi, 2013, Color Plates 16, 17, 18, 19). 11 M. LI Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 65 (2022) 101370 indicates that the deceased was likely the first-generation Lord of Zeng. Again, similarity in design configuration suggests shared ritual protocols among these Zhou elites, who were ritually bonded together through the performance of libation ceremonies. The discovery of the ritual assemblage from the Dahekou cemetery for the ruling lineage of the Ba state in the Jinnan Basin reveals the ways that such ritual knowledge was disseminated across the political landscape through marriage ties between Zhou inner elite and their highland subjects/allies. Ba was a highland vassal state controlled by the Jin state granted to Lord Tang Shu Yu of the Zhou royal lineage (Shanxinsheng, 2011). Numerous objects found inside an inscribed bronze zun container discovered in the tomb of a Lord of Ba (M1) represent components from a libation set, such as a jade tablet, a group of jade-turquoise-freshwater shell mosaic tiles, a freshwater shell lid and a freshwater tube, a bone tube, a wooden ladle, two lacquered wood goblets, fourteen cowrie shells, and some embossed copper fittings placed inside (Shanxisheng et al., 2020:230–31). These contents in the vessel were very similar to the royal gifts listed on Late Shang and Western Zhou bronze inscriptions, such as the Zi Huang zun vessel, where a libation set or a jade tablet was gifted along with strung cowrie shells. This group of objects, therefore, was probably part of a gift set. Since the inscriptions on the bronze zun container indicates that it was commissioned by Lord Zhi of the Yan state for his aunt, this group as well as other bronze vessels from the Yan state from this tomb were likely part of the dowry for the Yan elite woman married to this highland lord [Fig. 9]. The Yan state was granted to the lineage of the Duke of Shao, one of the architects of the Zhou state, to secure the northern gateway of the Central Plains (Li, 2006). The Duke of Shao himself remained in the royal capital to serve as the Grand Protector to King Cheng and the Yan state was ruled by his heir. Located approximately 700 km northeast of Dahekou, excavation of the state cemtery at the Yan capital city at Liulihe near Beijing yielded the tomb of Lord Ke, who was the first lord of the Yan state and also the older brother to Lord Zhi. Since the Zhou rulers were engaged in numerous political marriages with the elite lineages of its highland subjects and allies, the marriage of Duke of Shao’s daughter to a lord of the Ba state was probably aimed at consolidating the newly established Zhou political order. The large number of Late Shang style ritual vessels excavated from Dahekou tomb M1 indicates that the Ba elite was well acquainted with the Shang ritual tradition before being incorporated into the Zhou political system. The inscription on a bronze yu vessel commissioned by another lord of Ba buried in tomb M2017 details the visit of a Zhou royal envoy, who brought mao grass and chang infused ale as royal gifts. The lord held guan libation ceremonies and symposia to honor the envoy and returned the royal gratitude with tiger skin, jade zhang tablet, chariot, and horses (Shanxigeng, 2011; Li, 2011). As previously discussed in the Zhuangbai bronze inscription, the mao grass was used for filtering ale, which had been listed as a southern tribute in textual sources (Li, 2018). Its inclusion as part of royal gift to the highland lord indicates that the filtering apparatus is as important as the highly prized alcoholic beverage itself and the Zhou king played a key role in its redistribution in the elite exchange network. I will return to the symbolic significance of this transaction later. The extraordinary preservation of organic materials from M1 and M1017 at Dahekou offers the first opportunity for us to investigate the internal construction of the libation set. One of the bronze goblets (M1: 268) inscribed with the phrase “zan/guan made for the Lord of Yan” still has a wooden funnel, a bronze funnel, and a wooden plug inside its cavity (Shanxisheng et al., 2020)[Fig. 9-1]. Presumably zan/guan refers to the name of the whole ritual assemblage (Ju, 2014; Huang, 2016; Wang, 2019). Both lacquer goblets placed in the zun vessel from Dahekou M1 also had their wooden funnels still remain intact. Dakehou M1017 also yielded a bronze ladle, a pair of bronze goblets, and an internal mechanism which consisted of a bronze funnel, a wooden plug Fig. 9. Part of the libation set commissioned by Lord Zhi of the Yan state for his aunt from the Early Western Zhou elite tomb M1 at the Dahekou cemetery in the Jinnan Basin (after Shanxisheng et al., 2020, 1:223, Fig. 56; 2: Color Plate 29–2; 3: Fig. 3. 269 Fig. 113-4; 4: Color Plate 54–1; 5: Color Plate 54–2; 6: Color Plate 35–1; 7: Color Plate 35–2). 12 M. LI Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 65 (2022) 101370 with an attached wooden lid and a gold tablet mounted on the top set inside one of the bronze goblets [Fig. 10]. Based on the configuration of the internal structure from Dakehou goblets, other similar finds from the Western Zhou, and epigraphic evidence from Yinxu oracle bone inscriptions, Ju Huanwen (2014) reconstructed the ritual libation device. The ritual set consists of a jade (or gold) tablet mounted on a wooden rod serving as the handle for a lacquer lid inlaid with turquoise, jade, or freshwater shell. The guan libation process appears to involve an elite host slowly pouring alcohol over the tablet with a ladle and pressing the liquid with a wooden plug below the lid, forcing it through a jade or turquoise tube set in the center of a wooden funnel down and gather at the bottom. In lieu of a wooden mechanism, the elite host would press a bronze rod with a spherical shaped bronze plug at the end against the concaved surface of the wooden funnel below, allowing the liquid draining through the turquoise tube (Ju, 2014). Upon completion of the ritual, the filtered ale was poured into bronze jue tripod beakers or zhi lidded cups and was shared among elite participants for ancestral and/or supernatural blessing. Afterwards, the ritualist removes the jade tablet and places it in a fish-skin bag to be worn by the elite patron or to hang on the wall (Ju, 2014, 2020; Li, 2019). Li Ling (2019) compares the whole mechanism with a reciprocal pump. Zhang and Ju (2014) argue that the bubbles emerging from the vacuum below the pump offers an acoustic dimension to the ritual practice, whereas the descending liquid mixed with sounds symbolized ancestral and/or supernatural consumption of the alcoholic beverage. It is difficult, however, to distinguish the ritual and functional component in the design configuration or to fully decipher its symbolic nuances. Since the purpose of pouring alcohol beverage over the jade tablet was to please the gods and ancestors, the cluster of turquoise mosaic tiles probably symbolizes the stacked iconography engraved on Longshan and Erlitou tablets or the branch lineages associated with the founding ancestor. The flow of liquid down the jade or shell rod installed under the freshwater shell lid probably symbolizes alcohol being consumed by supernatural dedicatees (Yan, 2020). While this reconstruction is still tentative, it has made significant contribution to our knowledge of the libation ritual. We do not know, however, where the mao grass came into the picture and how was the alcoholic beverage infused with aromatic ingredients. Besides the goblet and the tripod beaker, the whole libation set would also include container vessels (zun, you, hu, lei, guan, and yi), ladle (dou), tripod pitchers (jia for warming and he for mixing), drinking vessels (jiao tripod beaker and zhi lidded cup), bronze or lacquer stand (jin), and musical instrument (graded set of bronze bells and chimestones) as seen in elite tombs excavated in Baoji and Suizhou (Ju, 2020). The consumption of the highly priced alcoholic beverage with this elaborate set symbolizes participants’ communion with the ancestral and supernatural world, thus making the ritual libation a transformative process in the ShangZhou cultural milieu. The choice of using gold to substitute jade for the tablet at Dakehou tomb M1017 highlights a changing notion of value in the highland polity. Unlike jade, gold was rarely used in Shang-Zhou ritual settings. The precious metal was primarily introduced by Zhou’s highland neighbors through the Scythian-Siberian exchange network with access to Altai gold. Gold foil was also used occasionally to decorate the jade and turquoise inlaid lacquer lid from elite burials in the broadly defined Zhouyuan area (Li and Jing, 2012:47). This important change in materiality informs the ways that bronze metallurgy, also an introduction through interactions with North and Central Asian networks, were incorporated into the ritual life of Neolithic China a thousand years earlier, which gradually worked into a ritual assemblage consisting of jade and lacquered wood (Li, 2018). The quantity of bronze gu goblet, zun vessel, you container, jue tripod beaker dropped sharply from the archaeological assemblage after the Middle Western Zhou (ca. 976–878 BCE), which coincided with a general rise of food container vessels in the Late Western Zhou. The number of jade tablets excavated from archaeological contexts also dropped from approximately 360 in the Early to Middle Western Zhou periods to Fig. 10. Part of the bronze libation set and the gold tablet from the Early Western Zhou elite tomb M1017 at the Dahekou cemetery in the Jinnan Basin (after Shanxisheng et al., 2018, 117, Fig. 32; Color Plates 24–2 & 3, 27, 29–1 & 3, 31–3, 40–3). 13 M. LI Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 65 (2022) 101370 approximately 50 during the Late Western Zhou and Early Eastern Zhou periods (Li and Jing, 2012). Elaborately carved tablets of the Middle Western Zhou were replaced by poorly carved or plain tablets in the Late Western Zhou, whereas some appear to be modified from earlier jade tablets (Deng, 2018). This shift away from libation rituals in Early Bronze Age China tool place as part of a comprehensive ritual reform that defined the Late Western Zhou (ca. 877–771 BCE) bronze tradition (Rawson, 1988; Falkenhausen, 2006; Hwang, 2016b). As the result of this ritual reform, the Zhou established a hierarchy of elite ranks based on a graded set of bronze vessels, whereas nine ding tripod vessels and eight gui food containers represent the highest rank. At the same time, the guan libation ritual remained central to the textual representations of kingship in Zhou society for its association with religious communication and elite commensality. This apparent divergence between textual narrative and archeological assemblages indicates a complex process of ritual transformation that manifested differently in ceremonial practice and political discourse. Excavated from the Western capital site of Feng-Hao, Late Western Zhou ding tripod vessel (Jicheng 02835) commissioned by Duoyou commemorated his victories against the highland confederation of Xianyun. Its inscription incorporated congratulatory remarks from the inner elite Duke of Wu, followed by a list of gifts including a gui zan jade tablet for libation, bronze bells, and copper ingots. This would take place alongside the presentation of war captives in royal ancestral temple, reporting the victory to the royal ancestors, feasting and music performance. The jade tablet could be the one used in this occasion, thus it embodied royal honor for the recipient. Similar royal rewards of chang infused ale in bronze you container, jade zan tablet and cowrie shells are also seen in other Late Western Zhou inscribed bronze vessels, indicating the resilience of the archaic ritual practice (Li and Jing, 2012: 39). After the royal capitals in Zhouyuan and Feng-Hao fell to highland invasion, the Zhou royal court relocated to its sole remaining royal capital of Luoyi in 770 BCE and Zhou states of Rui, Liang, and Guo at the eastern end of the Guanzhong Basin became strongholds for a new defensive parameter protecting the gateway to the Eastern Zhou royal domain in the Luoyang Basin. A bronze drinking assemblage excavated from the Early Eastern Zhou elite tomb M27 at the Liangdaicun cemetery for the lineage of Lord of Rui in Hancheng, Shaanxi appears to represent a short-lived revival of the Early Western Zhou ancestral rituals after the fall of Western Zhou royal capitals (Shaanxisheng et al., 2007). The set include a zun container, a you container, a jiao lidded tripod beaker, and a gu goblet, as frequently seen in Early Western Zhou contexts [Fig. 11]. Chen Xiaosan (2020) argues that they were Early Eastern Zhou reproductions of Early Western Zhou originals that would otherwise be curated in the ancestral temples of the Zhou elite lineages in the royal cities. Since many ancestral vessels in the royal capitals were buried in the occupied territory or plundered by highland invaders, the reproduction of these ancestral forms in the aftermath of the political crisis was probably aimed recreating the aura of those ancestral rituals once performed at the two fallen royal capitals in the royal heartland. The lidded bronze zun vessel from Liangdaicun M27 offers reveals possible symbolic connections between libation and other techniques of ritual engagements with the supernatural world. The cone-shaped bronze lid was divided into four quarters by four ridge lines radiating from the center to the edge, each has a bronze finial in the shape of a stylized jade zhang tablet at the end. Each quarter is decorated with 12 lines, which probably represents the jade, turquoise, or shell tiles on the mosaic inlaid lacquer lid on Early Western Zhou libation sets. At the center of the lid stood a bronze finial in the shape of the jade gui tablet Fig. 11. Part of the bronze libation set from the Early Eastern Zhou elite tomb M27 at the Liangdaicun cemetery in eastern Guanzhong Basin (1: A zun vessel with lid, after Shaanxi and Shanghai, 2012, Fig. 35; 2: after Fig. 140; 3, 4, 5: after Fig. 37; 6: after Fig. 26). 14 M. LI Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 65 (2022) 101370 with a pointed top. This design appears to depict the way that the jade tablet and the inlaid lacquer lid worked in a libation set (Ju, 2014). From an archaeological perspective, these ritual forms can be traced to great Longshan centers of Taosi and Shimao, as well as the Early Bronze Age city of Erlitou. In Bronze Age and early imperial ritual traditions, the gui and zhang tablets were part of a ritual jade set used by high elite to pay homage to heaven, earth, deities of the four cardinal directions, as well as sacred mountains designated for royal pilgrimages (Li, 2015). Such jade forms were discovered in great abundance in Zhou elite tombs, covenant caches, and ritual dedication sites (Li, 2018). The distinctive shapes of the bronze tablets on the lid, therefore, appears to have spatial association, where the gui tablet representing the axis mundi and the zhang tablets representing the supernatural powers of the four cardinal directions. In this case, the cone-shaped lid may represent the earthen altar, an important place-making device in early China. Sources incorporated in the “Zuo Luo” chapter in Yi Zhou shu described their symbolic role in the investiture ceremonies for Zhou lords to establish their military colony (Huang et al., 1995). Using color symbolism to order space, the grand earthen altar in the royal capital Luoyi had the yellow loess in the center, surrounded by black (north), white (west), red (south), and grey (east) colored soil for each direction. At these ceremonies, the Zhou king would remove colored soil associated with the direction of colony, overlay it with the yellow soil removed from the center of the altar, pack them together with white mao grass, and present the bundle to the lord (Li, 2018). The recipient would construct a branch altar in the new settlement with the bundle buried at the center, which became the focal point for ancestral rituals of the ruling lineage of the new state. The polychrome earthen mound discovered in Chenzhuang associated with the Qi state granted to Tai Gong, the Grand Lord, represents an archaeological example of such a branch altar (Shandongsheng, 2010, 2011). By depicting the spiritual-architectural structure and the associated jade forms on the bronze lid, Zhou elite merged two potent mediums of religious communication, namely the earthen altar and the bronze-jade libation set, thus making the latter a portable symbol of axis mundi. Excavation of Liangdaicun M27 also yielded a bronze goblet fitted with a bronze funnel and a wooden plug inside, indicating that the Early Western Zhou tradition seen at Dahekou and Yejiashan cemeteries had not changed for three centuries (Ju, 2014; Chen, 2020). Jade tablets modified from Middle Western Zhou jade tablets were also found at Liangdaicun (Deng, 2018). Similarly, Western Zhou style jade tablets have been excavated in numerous elite tombs associated with the lineage of the Lord of Guo at the Shangcunling cemetery in Sanmenxia. At the tomb of Lord Guo Ji (M2001) at Shangcunling, several jade gui tablets, a jade zhang tablet, and a jade huang pendant on the coffin were each mounted on a group of jade chips, probably representing the gui zan, zhang zan, and huang zan used for libation ritual in Zhou textual sources (Yan, 2015:97). This again highlights the interchangeability of these jade objects–they could be used for very different purposes in different contexts, which informs on the emic classification schemes of the Zhou society (Li and Jing, 2012:38–40). detached from its physical presence in Eastern Zhou society. Eastern Zhou classical texts frequently referenced them as symbols of kingship. The term gui zan, the gui shaped jade tablet for libation appears in sources from diverse intellectual traditions, such as Shangshu, Shijing, Liji, Zhouli, Zuozhuan, and Guoyu indicating that this archaic tradition had become integral part of the Zhou cultural milieu (Li and Jing, 2012). In each case, the gifting of gui zan jade tablet for making libation ritual with chang infused ale was described as an extraordinarily high royal honor, consistent with our observation from the Western Zhou bronze inscriptions. Based on this archaeology of the longue durée, we could examine classical narratives about libation ritual as a central component of archaic kingship. The “Gu Ming” (Testamentary Charge) text from Shangshu, a compendium of Bronze Age historical documents and royal speeches compiled in the first millennium BC, recounts the death of King Cheng and the coronation ceremony for his successor King Kang in Early Western Zhou period. The Grand Protector (Duke of Shao) and other inner elites acted as intermediaries with the ancestral and supernatural world, whereas ritual libation performed with symbolically significant vessels provides the supernatural endorsement to the transfer of power. After a detailed account of the display of royal treasures in the palace, the text highlights the libation ritual as the central component of the coronation ceremony: The Grand Protector held a jade gui tablet, the Grand Master of Rites held a tong goblet and mao jade tablet. They ascended by the master staircase. The Grand Scribe held the document and ascended by the guest staircase. He presented to the king the political will of the deceased king and proclaimed: “The august sovereign, leaning on the jade stool, brought forward and manifested his last will: He ordered you to continue following the royal instructions, to look down upon and govern the state of Zhou, to follow the great laws, to make the whole world harmonious and concordant and thus respond to and extol King Wen and King Wu’s brilliant instructions.” The new king bowed down twice, rose and responded: “How could I, the insignificant one, govern the regions of the four quarters, and thus reverently stand in awe of Heaven’s majesty? Then he received the goblet and tablet. The king thrice advanced, thrice sacrificial libation, and thrice returned to his position. The Grand Master of Rites declares: “The libation has been enjoyed.” (Karlgren, 1950:69–74 original transliteration has been changed to pinyin) Such a solemn royal ritual occasion would be recorded by royal scribes like the Wei lineage at Zhuangbai and passed down through generations. While the jade gui and zhang tablets had always remained a symbol of kingship in Chinese history, the knowledge of their association with the goblet as a libation set was lost over time. Over the last two millennia, classical scholars debated over the meaning of tong and mao, as well as the nature of the ritual performance associated with these objects (Wang, 2010; Wu, 2010; Li and Jing, 2012; Zhang, 2014; Zhang and Ju, 2014). The inscription from the recently discovered Neishi Bo turquoise inlaid bronze goblet indicates that the bronze vessel shape was indeed called tong at the time and was used for guan libation rituals in Early Western Zhou society: “King Cheng bestowed upon Inner Minister Bo sweet ale for guan libation ritual, [Bo] dares not stand idle and had this tong vessel made for libation” (Wang, 2010; Wu, 2010). Karlgren’s (1950) translation of tong as a pitcher and mao as a zan jade libation ladle, therefore, was perceptive. Mao likely refers to the tablet-handleand-lid set placed inside the goblet as seen in recent archaeological finds from Early Western Zhou (Li and Jing, 2012:44). Although scholars have identified this text as “a founding myth of the Zhou” reconstructed in the intellectual milieu of the Late Eastern Zhou (Meyer, 2017:106), the performative aspects of the ceremony are consistent with actual ritual practices observed in archaeological records from the Early Western Zhou period. 2.5. A metaphor of kingship in Eastern Zhou and early imperial China (Late first millennium BC) These Early Eastern Zhou finds in the royal hinterland represents the last appearances of the libation set in the Bronze Age archaeological record. In contrast to their ubiquitous presence in elite burials through the second millennium BC, only eight jade tablets were reported from archaeological finds after the Early Eastern Zhou period (including one from an early imperial tomb), most appear to be Shang and Western Zhou heirloom objects (Liu and Jing, 2012: 40). The waning of the libation set in the archaeological record, however, did not lead to its disappearance from the ritual tradition and political discourse. Instead, the libation set evolved from an actual ritual assemblage used in Shang and Western Zhou ritual traditions to a metaphor of political authority 15 M. LI Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 65 (2022) 101370 While libation was the central to Zhou ritual tradition, it is beyond the scope of this paper to analyze the elaborate protocols detailed inclassical texts (Li and Jing, 2012; Ju, 2014, 2020; He 2013; Shen and Li, 2014; Sun, 2005, 2008; Yan, 2015; Zhang, 2020). Instead, I provide a brief synthesis of the ritual performance based on multiple ritual texts put in writing during the Eastern Zhou period. It could include both archaic knowledge transmitted from the Western Zhou and the later elaboration by Eastern Zhou ritualists that put memories of earlier practices into a framework appropriate to their own time. First, the priorities of ritual performance were based on an imagined separation of hun and po after death, whereas hun ascended to the yang positive realm above the human world and po descended to the yin negative realm below. In contrast to the Shang tradition, which prioritize the yang realm above, Zhou ritualists prioritized the yin realm below, thus starting the ancestral ceremonies by pouring alcoholic beverage to reach the underworld to evoke the po component of ancestral spirit. Next, the ascending aroma to the realm above would reach the hun component of the ancestral spirit. This historical conception of ritual differences based on the notion of the dynastic transition of three regimes is also seen in their narrative of stylistic differences among ritual vessels associated with the three dynasties. Second, the Zhou ritualists identified the purpose for performing the guan libation ritual as to guide the ancestral spirits to descend down to the ritual occasion through a personator, allowing the ancestor to be present in the ritual and materially accessible to the people drinking the alcohol. The guan libation ritual, therefore, was performed as the first in the nine rounds of ritual offerings performed in Zhou royal ancestral temple, followed by the performance of ritual music and ritual dance, the slaughter and presentation of sacrificial animals, and the presentation of other prized food items and beverages. Libation over jade tablet infuses ancestral blessings and the essence of jade into the fragrant ale. The personator would receive the offerings on behalf of the royal ancestors. Third, the Eastern Zhou ritualists prescribed highly specialized protocols and division of labor in their idealized vision of court rituals. The king first held gui zan to offer libation to the personator of the royal ancestral spirit, followed by the queen and the inner elites each using the zhang zan to make their offerings. The ceremony was conducted by dazongbo, the senior master of rituals, and xiaozongbo, the junior master of rituals, both responsible for organizing the state ritual ceremonies for the gods, natural deities, royal ancestors, and pilgrimage sites in the sacred landscape. They were assisted by an entourage of specialized ritual personnel. Sishi, the display master, prepared the sacrificial animals, jade, and textile offerings, arranged the display of ritual vessels, supervised the cleaning of utensils, and made divination for scheduling the ceremony. Changren, the brew master, used black millet to make ale with different containers and utensils for different ritual occasions. Yuren, the master infuser, was responsible for infusing chang ale with yujin, presenting in proper vessels, and cleaning and displaying the libation jade. Sizunyi, the keeper of ritual vessels, was responsible for the curation of bronze libation vessels used for diverse occasions at different seasons. Dianrui, the keeper for ritual jade objects, was responsible for the curation and presentation of ritual jade objects for the kings and their inner elite to use for different ceremonial occasions, including jade tablets for the libation ritual. Since the libation ritual set was rarely observed in Eastern Zhou archaeological contexts, these references likely represent an imagined ritual order based on knowledge of archaic practices that was already waning at the end of Western Zhou. Inscriptions on a group of bronze bo bells from the state of Zhu in southern Shandong, however, indicate that bronze vessels and musical instruments specifically used for ancestral libation rituals were still produced by elite society during the Middle Eastern Zhou period (Ju, 2020). The archaeological pattern, therefore, indicates both a general decline in this ritual practice and the reliance of this archaic ritual in Eastern Zhou society. The ritual focus might have been redirected to the display and curation of jade or bronze ladles used for libation while the frequency of actual performance dwindled. In contrast to the abundant reference to the guan libation in the Eastern Zhou ritual texts, Eastern Zhou sources purported to describe the contemporaneous political affairs indicates a decisive departure from the archaic practice. For example, in a long entry (Lord of Shao 17 and 18) in Zuozhuan, the Zuo commentary to the Spring and Autumn chronicle, about the risk of catastrophic fire brought by the appearance of a comet in 523 BCE, the Zheng statesman Zichan refused to make a propitiatory offering with a bronze jia tripod pitcher and a jade zan tablet to spare his state from the imminent danger. The threat of this omen cannot be overstated–even relocation of the Zheng capital of Xinzheng was proposed. In a rebuttal to Zichan’s refusal, other Zheng nobles highlights the justification for this exceptional offering: “Valuable objects are for preserving the people. If there is a fire, the domain will be in danger of falling. If we can use valuable objects to save us from falling, why begrudge them?” (Durrant et al., 2016: 1553) Instead, the Zuo storyteller portrays Zichan as conducting only the basic propitiatory rituals and emphasizing instead the practical aspects of firefighting. Similarly, the “Luyu” chapter in Guoyu (1978), a Late Eastern Zhou text roughly contemporaneous with Zuozhuan, describes a proposal from the Lu noble Zang Wenzhong to purchase grain from the neighboring state of Qi for famine relief using state treasures as mortgage. Zang allegedly presented an heirloom gui jade tablet for serving chang infused ale and a jade chimestone to the Lord of Qi to save the lives of people, the ritual sacrifice to the founding lords, and the tribute obligations to the Zhou king. The Qi state provided the relief and returned the state treasure. The founding lords of Qi and Lu both served King Wu in the Zhou conquest of the Shang. The reference to their shared ancestral root and the presentation of heirloom treasures, therefore, highlight the historical basis for mutual assistance. Again, the storyteller’s choice of using an heirloom gui jade tablet as mortgage for famine relief highlights its exceptional status in the Eastern Zhou society. Based on our knowledge of Western Zhou bronze inscriptions and archaeological finds, this jade tablet is likely a royal gift to the founding lord, which would be curated in the ancestral temple of the Lu state. This contrast is significant for revealing the changing perceptions of the archaic ritual in the Late Eastern Zhou society–at the time these historical stories were put into writing (fifth to fourth centuries BC), these libation rituals were no longer practiced on a regular basis. It is based on this assumption that the storytellers highlighted Zichan’s reluctance to sponsor luxurious ritual ceremonies and Zang Wenzhong’s choice to use the jade tablet for grain mortgage. The perception of the libation set as representing an archaic ritual practice, therefore, is consistent with the general decline of the libation assemblage in archaeological contexts. If these conversations were set against the backdrop of Early Western Zhou society, the proposal of offering a jade zan tablet for saving one’s state from fire or famine would not appear to be so extraordinary. While the guan libation ritual set observed in Shang and Western Zhou contexts disappeared from archaeological record, libation remains a prominent symbol for political authority in textual sources. Political relationship was constantly negotiated through the terms of alcohol, either to contest or defend the royal power, which informs on the assumptions and values of the societies in which these stories were told. The phrase juchang guizan, the infused black millet ale and jade tablet set, had become a metaphor for extraordinary prestige in textual tradition. This is largely a result of classical learning during the Late Eastern Zhou society, because many royal addresses incorporated into the canonical works, such as Shangshu and Shijing, listed them as royal gifts to inner elites. King Ping, for example, bestowed this set to Lord Wen of the Jin state to express gratitude for Jin’s military assistance for the king’s escape to Luoyi after the invasion of 771 BCE. In two separate historical accounts about the ritual responsibility of the Chu ruler, alcohol was brought into the political negotiation of kingship. The Chu state-building legend in transmitted texts attributes 16 M. LI Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 65 (2022) 101370 the Chu rulers’ defience of Zhou kingship as being rooted in King Cheng’s disrespect of Chu Lord Xiong Yi at a royal gathering hosted by the Zhou. While the Lord of Chu was invited to the grand occasion, he was refused from participating the covenant ceremony for Zhou lords on the basis of his southern origin and low rank in Zhou elite hierarchy. Instead, he was assigned the task of filtering alcohol with mao grass bundles, establishing wooden posts for landscape rituals, and watching the bonfire for burning offerings alongside northern tribesmen (Li, 2012). A few generations later, the Chu Lord Xiong Qu openly declared kingship in the 9th century BCE on the basis of this perceived political humiliation. It is likely that deep political tensions between Zhou and Chu were responsible for the diplomatic rift, including their competing claims to copper mines in the middle Yangzi. It is culturally significant that the tension was expressed through one’s participation in or denial from royal libation ceremony. This was the same kind of nijiu or suojiu libation ceremony Xing of the Wei lineage from Zhuangbai attended and commemorated with his bronze vessels (Baojishi, 2016:67). The legend is also consistent with the Dahekou bronze inscriptions, where the royal envoy brought the mao grass and chang infused ale to the Lord of Ba as royal gifts (Shanxisheng, 2011). Numerous inscribed bronze vessels commissioned by the elite participants indicated that the grand covenant ceremony took place at Zhouyuan and the Western Zhou oracle bone inscriptions from pit H11 in Zhouyuan also mentioned the Chu lord’s participation of a burning ritual (Li, 2012). The Chu storytelling about Xiong Yi’s involvement, therefore, was probably based on an actual political event. In the Eastern Zhou bronze inscriptions, the rulers of Chu addressed themselves as yin (libation), probably as a reference to their ancestral occupation in the Zhou royal service–the assignment of filtering alcohol might have been seen by the Chu lord as a privilege at the time. Similarly, the political campaigns in the name of defending the royal authority were also articulated through claims about the roles and responsibilities of the libation ceremony. In a Zuozhuan passage attributed to Guan Zhong, the Qi statesman justified his invasion of the Chu state in 656 BCE for its failure to provide the mao grass bundles as tribute to the Zhou court and for its crime of regicide. The authors of Zuozhuan had Guan Zhong open his speech by recounting the colonizing mission for founding lord of the Qi state and the political privilege granted to him as the protector of Zhou political order, followed by accusations against the Chu: archaic ideology of political landscape, where a tribute list is compiled for each of the nine regions within the political domain of the legendary first dynasty (Li, 2018). The Zhou civilization was built upon this archaic notion of kingship. Guan Zhong’s charge over Chu’s refusal to present the mao grass bundle filter, therefore, alluded to the Chu ruler’s selfdeclaration of kingship as Zhou’s equal. As for the death of King Zhao, it was the result of a failed royal campaign aimed at capturing copper ore and other wealth from the middle Yangzi, and was seen as of dubious legitimacy even by Zhou’s own standard. The order of Guan Zhong’s charges, which places the royal demand for a grass filter over a Zhou king’s life, reflects these priorities and had little to do with practical demands of alcohol preparation. The Chu envoy’s calculated response reflects the differential gravity of these charges: “It was our lord’s crime that tribute did not arrive. How would we presume not to supply it in the future? As for King Zhao not returning, you should ask about that on the banks of the river” (Durrant et al., 2016: Lord Xi 4.1, pp. 264–65). By admitting to the crime of declaring kingship, the Chu envoy defused the legitimacy of Qi’s military campaign in the name of defending Zhou royal authority. By alluding to the chaotic circumstances of King Zhao’s death from a naval ambush on the Han River, however, the envoy offered a subtle reminder that the regicide was a legitimate act of self-defense against an unjust royal invasion. In this case, the mao grass bundles outweighed copper ore (and the king’s death in pursuit of latter) in the emic scheme of things in Zhou society (Li, 2018). This extraordinary exchange offers critical insight on the intricate connections between alcohol consumption, ritual propriety, political landscape, and ideologies of kingship. Again, the deterioration of plant remains in these elite mortuary contexts makes it impossible to know how the mao grass filter was used in the libation ritual. It is likely that the filtering technique involves pouring alcohol over grass bundles to remove solid matters, as stated in the annotation to the entry about this exchange in the 4th year of Lord Xi in Zuozhuan (Durrant et al., 2016: 265). The nested design of the jade-bronze assemblage, however, suggests a more elaborate scheme. It is possible that straining alcohol with grass filter was one of the many steps performed as part of this performative sequence. Since archaeological evidence reveals that libation ritual was already in decline by the time of the alleged exchange, these references to the royal libation ritual, therefore, probably was a metaphor from a time when the Western Zhou royal power carried significant weight. In the past the Shao Duke Kang commanded our former ruler the Grand Lord, saying, ‘As for the princes of the five ranks and the lieges of the nine regions, it is you who can launch a military expedition against them in order to assist and defend the house of Zhou.’ He then bestowed on our former lord an endowment of land that reached to the sea in the east, to the Yellow River in the west, to Muling in the south, and to Wudi in the north. But your offerings of bundled mao grass did not arrive. Thus, the king’s sacrifices were not supplied, and there was nothing to use for filtering wine. I, the unworthy one, am here to inquire about this. Moreover, King Zhao went south on a military expedition and did not return. I am here to ask about this (Durrant et al., 2016: Lord Xi 4.1, pp. 264–65). 3. Discussion This archaeology of deep history traces the evolution of a libation assemblage from its emergence in coastal mound centers of the early third millennium BC to its incorporation into Bronze Age high culture in the second and first millennium BC. Against the backdrop of drastic socio-political changes unfolded through three millennia, the configuration of the assemblage displayed remarkable resilience and it coevolved with processes of political experimentation and state formation in early China. The elaborate ritual performed with their presence had a significant role in constructing cultural identity, marking social difference, and precipitating political change. The ritual practice and symbolic meaning associated with the libation set could have gone through significant changes during these most volatile periods of early China. Some general patterns, however, emerge from the archaeological inquiry into multiple lines of evidence. First, the distinctive connection between alcohol consumption and spirit tablets made libation ritual an integral part of religious communication in early China. The ritual process simultaneously nourishes the ancestral spirit and infuses the alcoholic beverage with ancestral blessings, which account for its religious efficacy. Once animated with these supernatural qualities, the set served the function of portable axis mundi for religious communication. No longer restricted to a fixed place, such as the ancestral temples or altar mounds, the increased mobility of these As Eastern Zhou diplomatic maneuvers were steeped in political symbolism, this exchange informs on the historical notions of legitimacy and value in Eastern Zhou society. By putting the demand for an alcohol filter above the life of a Zhou king, Guan Zhong’s statement appears to undermine the basic principles of Zhou ritual propriety, thus undermining the legitimacy of the allied forces. Yet, the Chu response shows otherwise and the accusations could only be understood within the cultural norms of Zhou society, particularly the symbolic link between alcohol and kingship. As I have previously proposed, the Zhou demand for bundled mao grass for filtering alcohol from the middle Yangzi was a reference to an 17 M. LI Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 65 (2022) 101370 ancestrol performances helped account for the “relative impermanence” of Bronze Age cities in early China (Falkenhausen, 2008:222). Second, a shift from full iconographic representation of supernatural figures in the Liangzhu tradition to simplified masks in stacks during the Longshan-Erlitou tradition and later to inscribed ancestral names on flat top tablets during the Late Shang period reveals an increasing focus on writing as a medium of religious communication in Early China. As ancestral spirit was evoked through pouring liquid over inscribed jade tablet, the practice of writing provided elite hosts patrons access to the supernatural and ancestral domain. Finally, the distinctive cultural emphasis on ritual libation channeled the patterns of technological choices that define the distinctive attributes of Bronze Age society in early China. As the libation set used precious materials to enhance its religious efficacy, it became one of the first realms for experimentation and incorporation of metallurgy during the middle second millennium BC. The first bronze vessels produced by the bronze foundries in Erlitou were tripod beakers and tripod pitchers, which were both used in libation rituals through Bronze Age China. The syncretic development in techniques and materiality for the libation assemblage suggests that the elite patrons committed their wealth and technological expertise to this all-important ritual that gave them access to the ancestors. Owners of these set could not only benefit from the vital essence of the jade, bronze, gold, turquoise, and other precious materials, but also make claim of control over the regions these precious materials originated. Changes in materials and technology raise important theoretical questions for cross-cultural studies of cultural interaction, technological transmission, and sociopolitical change: How did techniques and apparatuses of religious communication and commensality change through cultural encounters? How did such change figure into broad schemes of ritual, technology, identity formation, and political development? While the expansion and convergence of interaction networks across Eurasia during the late third millennium BC brought fundamental transformations to the apparatuses, substance, and techniques of religious communication of Neolithic communities, the remarkable resilience of this ritual tradition informs on the critical importance of alcohol and the libation ritual in the representation of religious and political authority in early China. networks and ritual traditions. At least in the Late Shang context, we observe compelling evidence for representing elite rank with graded set of libation assemblage. Although Bronze Age kings have never achieved exclusive control over these mediums of religious communication, the libation ritual was an important realm for representing ritual and political authority in early China, where this deeply rooted ritual tradition became the basis for elite interaction–with each other and with the supernatural. The common population was excluded from such access. Long after this ritual practice disappeared from archaeology record, its aura as the symbol of kingship lingers in the political discourse of early imperial China. Although early imperial scholars had no access to the Western Zhou archaeological record, classical learning kept this tradition alive. Since Eastern Zhou ritual texts placed the chang infused ale and gui zan tablet set at the top of the nine bestowments for highly distinguished subjects, the presentation of this libation set eventually became the last symbolic gesture staged by strongmen to declare their extraordinary status before usurping the throne. Regent Wang Mang forced the Grand Empress Dowager to grant him the title of Acting Emperor in 5 CE. Steeped in classical learning, Wang Mang had the libation set consisting chang infused ale and gui zan tablet presented to him as part of the nine bestowments for confirmation of his appointment. Four years later, he declared himself the founding emperor of the Xin Dynasty. Again, prime minister Cao Cao forced the Han emperor to grant him the royal gifts of the chang infused ale and gui zan tablet set along with the title of Duke of Wei in 213 CE. In 220 CE, Cao Cao’s son Cao Pi forced the Han emperor to abdicate the throne and declared himself as the Emperor of Wei. 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